霍利·布莱克

Holly Black (née Riggenbach; born November 10, 1971) is an American writer and editor best known for her children's and young adult fiction. Her most recent work is the New York Times bestselling young adult Folk of the Air series. She is also well known for The Spiderwick Chronicles, a series of children's fantasy books she created with writer and illustrator Tony DiTerlizzi, and her debut trilogy of young adult novels officially called the Modern Faerie Tales. Black has won a Nebula Award, a Newbery Honor, and a Mythopoeic Award. The Spiderwick Chronicles was adapted into a 2008 film and into a 2023 television series, for which Black received a nomination for the Children's and Family Emmy Award for Outstanding Young Teen Series.

Early life and education

Black was born in West Long Branch, New Jersey in 1971, and during her early years her family lived in a "decrepit Victorian house." She graduated from Shore Regional High School in 1990. Black graduated with a B.A. in English from The College of New Jersey in 1994. She worked as a production editor on medical journals including The Journal of Pain while studying at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.

She considered becoming a librarian as a backup career, but writing drew her away. She edited and contributed to the role-playing culture magazine d8 in 1996. Some of the inspiration to write young-adult fiction came from authors such as Garth Nix, Tamora Pierce and Francesca Lia Block. In regards to the fairy tale aspect of her work, she was inspired by creators such as Tanith Lee, Angela Carter, Terri Windling, Ellen Datlow, Pamela Dean, Ellen Kushner, Charles de Lint and Emma Bull.

In 1999, she married her high school sweetheart, Theo Black, an illustrator and web designer. In 2008, she resided in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Literary career

Modern Faerie Tales

Black's first novel, Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2002. There have been two sequels set in the same universe featuring different casts. The first, Valiant (2005), won the inaugural Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. By vote of Locus readers for the Locus Awards, Valiant and Ironside (2007) ranked fourth and sixth among the year's young-adult books.

The Spiderwick Chronicles

In 2003, Black published the first two books of The Spiderwick Chronicles, a collaboration with artist Tony DiTerlizzi. The fifth and last book in the series reached the top of the New York Times Bestseller list in 2004. A film adaptation of the series was released in 2008, of which Black was co-executive producer.

The Curse Workers

White Cat, the first in her Curse Workers Series, was published in 2010. White Cat was followed by Red Glove (2011) and the trilogy concluded with Black Heart in 2012. In 2011, Black stated that the Curse Workers books had been optioned by Vertigo Pictures and producer Mark Morgan.

Magisterium

In 2012, Scholastic acquired a five-book series written by Black and Cassandra Clare to be called Magisterium. Its first volume, The Iron Trial, was published on September 9, 2014. The final book in the series, The Golden Tower, was published in 2018.

The Folk of the Air

The Cruel Prince, first book of The Folk of the Air published in 2017, was critically acclaimed and nominated for the Locus Award and the Lodestar Award. The sequel, The Wicked King (2018), debuted at the No. 1 position of the New York Times Bestseller List and was also nominated for the Lodestar Award. The Queen of Nothing released in November 2019. With that release the series debuted at No. 3 on the New York Times Bestseller List.

Black was interviewed regarding the Folk of the Air series for an article in the March 2024 issue of BookPage magazine before the publication of her 2024 novel The Prisoner's Throne. She discussed the themes of the series with interviewer Jessica Peng. When asked whether or not she anticipated writing the Stolen Heir duology after the Folk of the Air series was published, Black replied, "When I got to Queen of Nothing, I realized I wanted to write about Oak and Suren at some point in the future... I don't think knowing that I wanted to revisit those characters changed the course of anything in the Folk of the Air books, but perhaps I did think of them a little more because of it".

The Charlatan Duology

Book of Night, published by Tor Books in 2022, was Black's first foray into adult fantasy. Generally well received both critically and commercially, the novel won a Dragon Award the same year. The sequel and final book in the duology, Thief of Night, was released in 2025.

Standalones

A standalone novel, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, was released by Little, Brown and Company in September 2013. Black published a short story of the same name in the vampire anthology The Eternal Kiss: 13 Vampire Tales of Blood and Desire. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown was an Andre Norton Award finalist in 2013.

Doll Bones was published in May 2013, and was awarded a Newbery Medal and a Mythopoeic Award.

The Darkest Part of the Forest was published in 2015.

Black has also written dozens of short works and co-edited at least three anthologies of speculative fiction.

Awards

2006: Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy, Valiant: A Modern Tale of Faerie

2014: Mythopoeic Award in Children's Literature, Doll Bones

2014: Newbery Medal Honor Book, Doll Bones

2015: Indies Choice Book Award—Young Adult Book of the Year, The Darkest Part of the Forest

2023: Inkpot Award